In the semiconductor industry, it is normally desirable to fabricate NMOS (metal oxide semiconductors) and PMOS devices with matching threshold voltages. In conventional semiconductor processing, the NMOS and PMOS threshold voltages are conventionally adjusted by a combination of channel implants and selective doping of a polysilicon gate. It is generally effective in adjusting the threshold voltages for PMOS devices but less effective for NMOS devices. To overcome these problems, dual metal gate CMOS transistors have been provided, with the metals forming the gates being selected based on their work functions.
Traditional metal gate transistors are normally fabricated by dry etching of metal or metal capped with polysilicon, to form the gate. Dry etching of metal is extremely challenging, as it is difficult to ensure that the metal dry etch stops properly on the ultra-thin gate dielectric, such as a gate oxide. This failure to stop the dry etch on the gate oxide results in the loss of silicon in the source/drain areas, thereby causing increased leakage current.
These problems encountered in forming metal gate transistors are exacerbated when attempting to implement dual metal gate CMOS arrangements. As stated above, such metal dual metal gate CMOS arrangements are desirable to adjust the work function and the threshold voltages. However, the traditional approach for forming metal gate transistors is not readily applicable to forming dual metal gate CMOS transistors.